think i damaged my electric koni's

Does anyone know what damage i did to my electric konis shocks with sweeps.
when a buddy started welding on my rear end. Smoke started coming from the top of the shock. The one that smoked did not have the black pig tail connected. The other side may not have been connected. The yellow koni box harness was connected.

 

If you weld on any kind equipment or vehicle , if you don't disconnect every ground at least ground to what you are welding on directly . More stuff is burnt up by grounding the welder on one end and welding on the other. It will arc and damage bearings, races and any metal to metal contact.

 

Weld everything

jody is so correct on this one. a famous chassis builder told me of an accident caused by welding on the chassis went through a metal brake line to get a ground. on the run, the spot on the brake line broke,opened up the brake line for a fluid leak, and he had no brakes and crashed.. i also found out msds dont like it either and smoked one. (right, tom?) sounds like a lot of work, but in the end it prevents stupid crap from happening.

 

its funny that there are so many opinions about welding
a very well respected guy from your side of the Atlantic not mine welded my car with nothing disconnected he said putting the earth close to what was being welded was fine, disconnected nothing and nothing was damaged ( the car was fully loaded with electronics and a mag) with significant welding, but im sure that if your welder tries to earth through one of your components ...its screwed
that i guess depends on your confidence in yourself,
as for brake lines sounds like the welder in this instance was earthed very badly to a point it shouldnt have been, who removes melal brake lines when welding???

 

The most important tool in welding a chassis, and most other welding jobs, is the wire brush or file that you use to clean a spot for the ground right next to where you are welding.

 

brake lines.........

I don't know if Dan is refering to one of my two stories (no cars crashed, one, we knew the issue, two, all was good after the burnout, staged and left, shook tires, crossed finishline, chutes out, brake handle to dash.....thank the lord it was Dallas and made the turn and stopped.
1. welded on top rail, car had braid line in bottom rail, smoke poured from bottom rail, felt brake handle, pulled hose out, it was barbequed. Ground (earth) was 12" from weld on top rail.
2. welded on bottom rail motor mount, good ground. After failure, pulled hardline, found a pinhole with a blue "buzzat" around hole.
God gave me good eyes, I like to use them to inspect my hardlines, I built over a hundred cars with properly placed and tie wrapped brakelines that my customers also could keep an eye on, because they were EXTERNAL due to my experiences. I could care less about anything else inside the frame rails!!
I was called on it once (one of my TAD's) by a tech inspector (scrutineer) who I'll refer to as Mr."C", he said "you can't do that", I said "yes I can because it is not in the rulebook, and I feel it's stupid and here's why, proceeding with above stories". He scratched his chin and said "what if a rod hits it ?", me, "can't, it's outside"!........ more scratching, "it'll get crushed if it hits the wall sideways", me "can't, there is a tire there".... more scratching-now on forehead...."it will if the tire and wheel get knocked off" Sigh.......me, then it don't need brakes 'cause there is no rubber to stop the car", story ended with hat off head scratching while walking away !!!!! This was 25 years ago,
I retired...........Mr. "C" did not..........guess what is now in the rulebook ????
Good Luck to All in the new year and race safe !

Uncle Bob

Bob Meyer
Meyer Race Cars / San Diego
2010 Our 45th Anniversary

 

Finally, a good ending

all of bobs stories usually end with a crash, so its hard for me to keep them straight! anyway, you get the idea i hope.

 

i think i damaged my koni electric shocks

Thanks Mike i can't believe i did this. Just forgot.
Yes it has shock travel sensors. Racepak analog v net and rpm pigtails were connected. But non of the wiring has yet to be connected.
Not sure where my buddy had the ground. I am just going to have to inspect everything. I will have to send shocks to bickel or strange.
Thanks guys.